VOICE OF THE PEOPLE (letter)

Wasting money

January 20, 2007|By Susan O'Brien

Chicago — I understand why we have traffic controllers at busy intersections, during rush hour traffic when the lights need to be ignored and traffic is waved through to resolve congestion issues. What I don't understand is why so many intersections have as many as three controllers, chatting with each other in the middle of an intersection, using their orange batons to give obvious directions.

When the light turns green, they tell the cars to go. When it is red, they halt the traffic.

Is this an appropriate use of city money? The first time I noticed this, I thought it was just an oversight, but since that time, I realized that these people are always positioned on the same corners and it doesn't matter what time of day it is.

Does the city have so much in its budget that it can afford to pay these people to reinforce what is already indicated by the traffic light?